Association of Women Victims of War (Bosnian: Udruzenje Žene-Žrtve Rata) is a non-governmental organisation based in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, that campaigns for the rights of women victims of rape and similar crimes during the

Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

1992-1995. The association gathers evidence and information about war criminals and rapists hiding in the

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

entity of Bosnia with a view to securing their prosecution. It has provided key testimony in rape and sexual abuse trials linked to the conflict and has helped obtain justice and financial and psychological assistance for many of its thousand-plus members. The organisation's founder and president

Bakira Hasečić Bakira Hasečić is a Bosnian human rights activist who advocates for the rights of women who were raped during the Bosnian War. Early life Hasečić was born to a Bosniak family in Višegrad, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina close to the bor ...

is a

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

woman from

Višegrad Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav river. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,668 ...

, in the Drina valley of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was herself a victim of the notorious war criminal

Milan Lukić Milan Lukić ( sr-cyr, Милан Лукић; born 6 September 1967) is a Bosnian Serb war criminal who led the White Eagles paramilitary group during the Bosnian War. He was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yug ...

during the rape campaign that was a significant component of the ethnic cleansing of Višegrad in 1992. Under Bakira Hasečić's leadership the association has become one of the most prominent human rights advocacy organisations in Bosnia, working with organisations such as

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. The association has been prominent in campaigning for national and international courts to prosecute the crime of rape as a weapon of war. The association's work has been featured in documentary programmes produced by the BBC and Al-Jazeera.

References

External links

* Association of Women Victims of War / Udruzenje Žene-Žrtve Rata websit

* Investigation: "Visegrad rape victimes say their cries go unheard'', by Nidžara Ahmetašević, Nerma Jelačić and Selma Boračić (Višegrad and Sarajevo), BIR

References

External links

See also